Reading Into Contemporary Arab Literature

The Memory of the Flesh by Ahlam Mostaghanemi

Kutub’s book for October 2006 was The Memory of the Flesh (Dhakirat Al-Jasad).

Ahlam Mostaghanemi is among the first Arabic woman writers of Algeria. Memory of the Flesh struggles with gender roles and the ravages of colonialism, all with a beautiful and poetic sense of language. This book was published in 1993. The discussion of this book included a lot of back and forth about the impact translation has on a reader’s understanding and appreciation of the work.